Never Kick A Skunk

Wherein Our Heroine is Bemused.

Disclaimer: I've never liked Anne Rice's work much. I have read two and a half of her books (admittedly, a small sample of her prolific output), and found her to be simultaneously overwrought and tedious. I don't get why she inspires such passionate devotion in her fans, but hey - de gustibus. There are obviously a lot of people out there who thinks she's just peachy, as her books sell masses of copies.

Since the time I stopped reading her, I have found snippets of her personality more intriguing than her books. Take, for instance, this "Message from the Beach," where she explains why she does not allow her editor to comment on her work. I'm not sure what her editor actually does, if she's not allowed to comment, other than perhaps to sign for the package containing the latest manuscript and call Anne and tell her how overjoyed she is to receive such a work of monumental perfection.

I am really not sure what to make of the newest Rice debacle, however. Having garnered a bunch of negative amazon.com reviews for her latest book, "Blood Canticle," Ms. Rice apparently went off the rails and posted a lengthy rant in response to those who dared criticize her. Amazon has since removed the rant itself, but it can be found here in all of its paragraph break-less glory. She accuses the negative reviewers of "slander" (where have we heard that before?) and says that the negative reviewers "have strained [her] Dickensean principles to the max." If it were written as a satire, it would be quite funny. As it is, well, I invite you to come to your own conclusions.

Naturally, the rant has garnered much more attention than all of the negative reviews combined might have done. Which brings me to the title I chose for today's essay. I really think that says it all. So don't you dare edit it.

Update: Apparently, some are questioning whether or not the Rice rant was, in fact, penned by Ms. Rice herself. She confirms it here.

Posted: Friday - September 24, 2004 at 08:10 AM | |